


A Rose's Last Petals

by noctaliza



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game), Super Paper Mario (Game)
Genre: Breaking the Fourth Wall, This is like thirty degrees of fuckery and I love it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 09:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17281580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noctaliza/pseuds/noctaliza
Summary: The Pastel Kingdom is in shambles! Queen Kaoru and Princess Chisato are missing! So is the great Ako, the younger of the Udagawa Sisters! And why is Tomoe so clueless?! All worlds are hanging by a thread, Tomoe! Whatever shall we do?!





	A Rose's Last Petals

**Author's Note:**

> I'm having fun. It's 2019, and I'm working on things at my own, unpredictable pace. Expect a lot more things from me this year, as a result!  
> And I can ASSURE you these will ALL be finished. I'm just thriving in my little Paper Mario corner right now, haha.  
> I'm playing through SPM again to refresh my Mr. L muse, and this decided to pop into my brain. So this'll be updated along with my playthrough, because...why not? It's fun. I needed some fuckery to balance out all the angst I write.

I don't often question what my sister does. I may be the older one, but she's her own person, y'know? She's allowed to do whatever she wants, as long as it doesn't...get her in trouble. If she wanted to go set fire to a tree or something, I'd have to step in and tell her that's not okay.

There are many things within my limits, but...

"Uh... Ako?"

...right now feels like it should be one of them.

We're sitting at the table of some small cottage, having just finished breakfast. I don't recognize a lick of anything here, from the walls and floors to the photos around the room.

This isn't Japan at all. Where the heck are we? And why are Ako and I wearing--...?!

"Yeah, Sis?" Ako, across the table from me, tilted her head. "What's up?"

She was adjusting her cap -- a pink newsboy cap, embroidered with a white circle and a pink 'A', customized just for her -- as she stared at me, puzzled.

"I'm not--" I cleared my throat. "I'm not the only one that sees something wrong here, right?"

Please tell me she sees it, too. This isn't how we live! We're teenagers, for starters! A cottage in the middle of nowhere? Where are our parents? How would we get to school or band practice?!

"Something...wrong?" she repeated slowly. "Whaddya mean? We've always lived here, Sis!"

There was a quick hop from her chair to the table, and before I knew what she was doing, she was standing on the table.

"The Great Udagawa Sisters, defenders of Palette Kingdom! Keepin' all the baddies in line with our wicked moves full of a buncha dark and...and sinister, uh... Yeah!" Ako punched the air a few times, then bent over to look down at me. "Are you tellin' me you don't remember, Sis?! We were literally JUST talkin' about the last time you went out on a crazy adventure! Y'know? RASport? How could you forget it just like that?!"

...

I have...no idea what she's talking about. All I can do is stare back at her, even more confused than she is.

Palette Kingdom? Pastel*Palettes? Does Aya run a kingdom now? Since when was she royalty? And why do I go on adventures?! I'm a high school student, for crying out loud! I don't have time to be running around on these...adventures, or...whatever they are!

"Ako..." I shook my head. "I dunno what you're talking about. Really. Where the heck are we?"

She gave me one last look of concern before jumping back off the table, then taking my hand to lead me outside the front door of the cottage.

It was...a forest. It was a forest outside, with our little cottage right in the middle of it. With all the trees around, I bet our place would be a major pain to find, if someone didn't know where they were going.

Like me.

"We're just outside the Palette Kingdom!" Ako tried to explain to me as she let go of my hand to gesture around the small clearing. "It's just a short trip to the castle from here, though! Not too bad at all! Plus we've got this whole place all to ourselves! Nothin' like some peace and quiet after a long day of fightin', huh?"

But who are we fighting? Who could a couple of kids possibly be fighting? Our parents?!

I opened my mouth to ask her that, but I was interrupted by another familiar face racing up to us.

"Udagawa-san...! Ako-san!" Maya, clearly in a panic, stopped right next to us. "Tuh--... T-Terrible news! Terrible!"

Oh, boy. Why is Maya dressed like a kni--

"What happened, Maya-san?!" Ako asked her before I could get my thoughts in order.

"Princess Chisato-san! She's gone!"

"Gone?!"

"Yeah! Gone! And the castle is a complete wreck!"

Maya let out an uncomfortable-sounding sigh as she fiddled with the spear in her hands.

"Eve-san and I were no match for 'em... I dunno who she was, but she was strong! VERY strong!"

Princess Chisato-san. That's...not how you say that title, Maya. It'd be Chisato-hime. You don't say -san AND -hime in the sa--

"But who else could it be?!" Ako retorted with a subtle whine in her voice. "It's GOTTA be her! Maybe she's got new people helpin' her out or somethin'!"

She then turned back to me. There was a shine in her eyes that I'd only seen when she was dead set on something.

"C'mon, Sis!" she demanded with a spring already in her step. "We gotta see what's up! We gotta!"

Ako... I still have no idea what or who you're talking about.

"Princess Chisato-san is in your hands, you two..." Maya declared with another sigh. "We're counting on you both to bring her home safely!"

Chisato-hime. It's Chisato-hime. Please don't tell me I'm gonna have to listen to a whole bunch of 'Princess Chisato-san' while I'm here.

Ako decided for me, it seemed, taking my hand again and leading me away from the cottage.

The forest was much, much smaller than I'd anticipated, but Ako knew her way through it no problem. There weren't even guidepoints for her to follow.

And it didn't take us long at all to make it into a drastically different part of the land. Ako said we'd taken a short cut, but from my perspective, it just looked like we ran around in circles for a few hours.

It looked like a complete disaster, wherever this was. Not a big fan of it, honestly, with the skulls all over the place.

Are--... Are those...human skulls? Nope. Not a fan at all. I may be completely clueless here, but I know I don't wanna get either of us killed.

Somewhere along the way, Ako said this place didn't have a name. Or, well, it did, but the person ruling over it kept changing it whenever she felt like it, so no one keeps up with that anymore.

That sounds an awful lot like somethi--

Oh, we're...here, I guess. Ako stopped in front of a massive castle, practically brimming with the creepy vibes all around it. This literally looks like a place where you'd find the final boss in a medieval RPG.

I'm also pretty sure there's lava below us right now. I would like to leave before one of us gets roasted, thank you very much? Can we leave, Ako? Please? I know you wanna be all tough and cool to help your amnesiac big sis, but I 'kinda need to protect y--

"Oh, the front gate's open," Ako mumbled as she calmly just...pushed the big, tall, spooky gates open and brought me farther inside the spookiness.

Ako. Ako, we're...like, maybe a few good feet above some lava right now? Please? This is terrifying?! Let's go home?!

...I need to actually say something to her instead of letting everything run wild in my head. Maybe we wouldn't be walking above a bridge with lava below it if I'd spoken up about how ridiculous this whole thing sounds.

Once we were safely across the bridge, Ako slowly began to open the front doors -- a dark metal set of double doors, blending in a bit with the stone of the rest of the place -- and get us both inside without a sound.

My god. I can tell who lives here just by looking at how extravagantly this is decorated. This is Kaoru, isn't it? It's either Kaoru or Kokoro, and I doubt Kokoro would be chasing after Chisa--

"Well!" a voice rang out, echoing strongly throughout the hall. "Tomoe-chan! And Ako-chan! What could you two POSSIBLY want from lil' ol' me, hm?"

Kaoru, in royal attire that only she could pull off, was sitting sideways on a throne at the end of the hall, giving us the most sly smirk I'd ever seen.

I knew it. It had to be Kaoru. No one treasures Chisato more than her.

"You have Princess Chisato-senpai, don't you, Kaoru?!" Ako questioned, her grip on my hand shakily tightening. "C'mon! Where is she?!"

Does no one say Chisato-hime around here?

Kaoru looked...puzzled by Ako's demands, sitting up straight to get a better look at us.

"I don't...have Chisato," she admitted. "My princess isn't here, in case you couldn't tell by the lack of life in this dreaded establishment!"

She then stood so she could come over to us, her jeweled trailing softly behind her with each step.

"What do you mean she's missing, hm?" She stopped directly in front of us, arms crossing. "If she's not here with me, and you two fools don't have her, then who--"

There was a crash of lightning outside, close enough to blind us. Ako reflexively let go of my hand to shield her eyes, allowing me to do the same.

When the light had subsided and we could see again, standing in between us and a now distant Kaoru was--

"What a bunch of weaklings, those guards are," Sayo shot a snide remark into the air. "It was no problem at all, nabbing their princess."

She turned towards Ako and I. Now we could clearly see she had an unconscious Chisato on her back.

"I've never seen such uncoordinated toddlers before. However!"

Another crack of lightning rang down, though not as close as it was previously.

"It's a good thing, you see, for the Dark Prognosticus calls for it! Defiance would only bring more pain upon them for trying to go against the way of the worlds!"

Sayo then shuffled Chisato off of her back, who then disappeared in a flash of...something before she'd hit the ground.

"Wh--..." Kaoru was the first to try to speak up, unsheathing the sword on her belt. "Who do you think you are?! No one harms Chisato and gets away with it! Now, bring her back!"

A chuckle escaped Sayo as she turned around to face Kaoru, her long cloak swaying as she approached her.

"You... Seta-hime, yes?" She chuckled again. "Or is it Seta-san?"

Raising an arm to the side summoned another crackle of lightning, this time slamming into the hall itself. Kaoru appeared to be stunned by it, frozen in place after it had faded away.

"I do need to use you for something, however... So as much as I'd love to cut you down myself, I can't."

There was a head tilt as she stopped directly in front of Kaoru, who still couldn't move.

"I bet your servants wouldn't mind if I borrowed y--"

"Hold it!" Ako interrupted with a shriek, holding out a...set of drumsticks in front of her?

Oh, god. Oh, for the love of god. What does she hope to do with those?!

"Ako, what are you doing?!" I tried to whisper to her. "You're gonna get yourse--"

"If you're the one that took the princess," Ako continued, completely ignoring me, "then you need to give her back! We're not gonna let you get away with this!"

Sayo began to turn around, holding up her hand to her face.

"I think you need to learn your manners, little girl," she chided. "Perhaps I need to teach you some, since your sister appears to have forgotten how to teach you anything!"

She began to raise her arm towards Ako, but I didn't see what she did with it. I'd run over to Ako to shield her from whatever was coming, hugging her close so she wouldn't be hit by th--


End file.
